Fresh Sonoran Style Chorizo Sausage Recipe

A Sonoran style chorizo sausage recipe is generally a bit hotter than the standard Mexican chorizo, and it often incorporates spices that, at first glance, may seem odd.

This Chorizo sausage recipe includes the flavors of cloves and cinnamon, and I find the resulting sausage to be unique and very tasty.

This recipe is for a 10 pound batch. Again, if you use good quality pork shoulder (butt) that is about 80% lean, you will have a product far superior to anything you can buy at the supermarket.

Your home sausage making skills will really pay off in this case. I've never found anything remotely similar (or as good as) this recipe in any store.

10 pounds boned pork shoulder

2 tablespoons hot ground pepper (I use cayenne)

2 tablespoons granulated garlic (or 6-8 fresh cloves)

1 1/2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 tablespoon coarse grind fresh black pepper

8 tablespoons paprika

3 tablespoons Kosher salt

1 cup cider vinegar, very cold or chilled with ice

Trim the pork, cut it into 1 inch cubes. Put it into the refrigerator to cool and then grind it through the 1/4 inch plate of your meat grinder.

Combine the spices in a small container and mix them with the 1 cup of very cold cider vinegar.

Pour the spice and vinegar combination into the ground pork and mix thoroughly for at least 3 minutes . Make sure you have good spice distribution.

Either stuff into casings or make into bulk packages.

If you stuff the sausage, let it hang (if possible) in a cooler or refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours to dry. This is a fresh sausage, so it must be kept under refrigeration.

I find that if I freeze this sausage for much longer than 2 months, not only does it start to loose its garlic flavor but the cloves can cause it to become slightly bitter tasting. It never seems to last that long in any case.